Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick


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Court Has Nothing To Say About iTunes UK Domain

from the nothing-to-add dept

The saga of iTunes.co.uk has gone on for a while, with Nominet awarding the domain to Apple earlier this year. The reasoning was pretty clear. The original owner, who did register it before Apple ever launched iTunes, was using iTunes.co.uk in a way that could reasonable seen as confusing to visitors. If he had continued to do something totally separate with it, there would be no argument, since he had registered it first. But, in trying to sell iPods and credits for Apple's iTunes, he probably stepped over the border of trademark infringement. It appears that the courts have agreed and have refused to hear the case, leaving the original ruling to stand. The owner of the domain can still apply for a hearing, but it's not clear if he's going to do so. Of course, what's still not entirely clear is why he should be forced to give up the domain. It might make sense if they just told him he could no longer use it in a confusing manner. But, to completely hand it over to Apple might be too much.

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  1. No Subject Given

    by Ivan Sick - Aug 6th, 2005 @ 11:49am

    It is too much, by far. Simply forcing the presence of a disclaimer on the front page should be enough.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. No Subject Given

    by Anonymous Coward - Aug 6th, 2005 @ 12:53pm

    Of course, what's still not entirely clear is why he should be forced to give up the domain.
    Because Apple has more money? Isn't that how things work?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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